Vote no on the 16 & Up Social Media Act. Introduced on September 11, 2026, by Reps. Houchin and Auchincloss, this bill doesn't just restrict teenagers — it builds an age-verification infrastructure that puts every adult's privacy at risk.
The bill's language is the problem. It requires companies to delete accounts they "know or should have known" belong to under-16s. That vague standard pressures platforms to investigate all users' ages or shut them out on suspicion. Adults who get wrongly flagged must then hand over personal information to a private company just to keep their accounts. That's not child protection — that's a surveillance system with an appeals process attached.
The bill targets specific design features like infinite scroll and personalized recommendations, but those features are used by adults too. Banning them for minors means platforms will either strip them for everyone or build age-gated versions that require identity checks at login. Either outcome is bad. My free speech and my privacy shouldn't be collateral damage in a policy that could achieve its goals through less invasive means. Kill this bill.
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